


The Greatest Catch

by weonvu (genisaurion)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fic Exchange, Fluff, M/M, also i have a few more fics in progress please wait for me, bumping the published date to match the collection release--
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 08:09:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genisaurion/pseuds/weonvu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Junhui visits Wonwoo at a pet store, except things don't ever seem to go his way.  Or, in which Junhui claims he's buying dog food for his pet Fish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Greatest Catch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chickencrust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chickencrust/gifts).



_This is it_ , Junhui tells himself. Third time’s the charm, practice makes perfect, and every other English idiom his best friend has ever tried to teach him that can be applied here.

If you asked him, Junhui would assure you that there is no particular reason why he’s hiding behind the shelf stocked with overpriced dog chow. But any regular—any dog lover, any _pet_ lover for that matter—would have seen right through him, would have noticed that Junhui is perfectly hidden from one store clerk with the name ‘Wonwoo’ flashing on his badge.

Except Junhui isn’t hiding, of course not, like he would ever do such a thing. Honestly, he’s just examining the nutrition facts on this particularly large bag of dog food. Examining, very carefully.

“Is your pet on a diet?” Wonwoo had asked so earnestly, the first time Junhui offered the excuse. That time, Wonwoo had somehow snuck up behind him—Junhui had carelessly let him out of his line of sight.

“Yes, actually, he is.” Ever since Junhui found out that Wonwoo works at a nearby pet store (namely, all of three days ago), he would swing by on his way home from the art studio. Wonwoo is someone Junhui only knows in passing—a friend of a friend of a friend, at best—and has been someone he’s admired since they met at a party about a month ago. But even meeting at a party was a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence—Wonwoo is a pre-med major, and Junhui is a fashion major, and truthfully Junhui doesn’t even know if he’s met another pre-med major in his life.

“But I thought you told me yesterday that you only owned was a fish?”

Needless to say, Junhui had booked it after that. But today, that would surely change. Wonwoo would forget his blunder, Junhui would arise the better man…

Truthfully, Junhui doesn’t usually consider himself a nervous type of person, not really. There are two factors in play that make talking to Wonwoo difficult. First, there was the pre-med/fashion major thing. At least to his presumptions, fashion majors and pre-med majors just don’t have a lot of shared interests. And second, there’s the issue of Wonwoo himself. It isn’t even a language issue, or even a confidence issue. It’s some combination of wanting to say the right things to him at the right time, Wonwoo being too nice to look at for proper brain functioning to even occur, and Wonwoo behaving counter to any of his expect—

“Can I help you with anything?”

Junhui turns around and mouths _crap_ to one Wonwoo, who has once again managed to approach him from behind, even though Junhui swears he was stocking the cat toys in the aisle over just moments before. His expression is harmless, yet unreadable, yet perfect in every way, and it kills Junhui inside that he can’t find the words to express any of that in that moment.

“Just… looking at the fish,” Junhui stutters.

Only after a moment does he realize his mistake.

“You know that’s dog food you’re looking at,” Wonwoo points out bluntly.

Junhui stammers, searching for his next best excuse. “Uh… I mean the picture of the dog! I’ve named him Fish.”

This is exactly his problem. On his walk from the studio, Junhui knows exactly how this encounter is supposed to play out. He’s supposed to approach Wonwoo, then remind him about the party they both attended a month prior. But somehow, Wonwoo surprises him every time, and everything he’s planned goes down the drain.

Wonwoo looks from Junhui to the dog, and then shrugs. Honestly, Junhui is surprised Wonwoo buys it at all. “Cute name. Anyway, you’re good, then?”

“Yeah…”

 _But not as cute as you_ , Junhui says to himself. He tries to give Wonwoo a reassuring nod, except that he feels his chest swelling and maybe if he’s says too much he’ll run out of breath and die on the spot.

“I’m good.”

 _I’m not, though_ , Junhui tells himself once Wonwoo has moved on. He needs help, badly.

* * *

“I need your help.”

Jisoo looks up from the magazine he’s reading, briefly registers Junhui’s distress, then decides he’s not all that worried.

“Jisoo!”

“What?” Jisoo glances up again, locking eyes with an unimpressed Junhui. It’s a dynamic they’ve had since their meeting several years ago at freshman orientation: Junhui gets frustrated over small things, while Jisoo is the constant voice of reason—usually against Junhui’s favor.

“I need your help! I think Wonwoo is catching onto me.”

Jisoo rolls his eyes. Jisoo first heard of the name from Junhui about a month ago, and has not lived a day since without hearing the name at least once. Though, it isn’t like Jisoo can blame him – even he can’t deny that Wonwoo is quite the looker, or at least from the photos Junhui has shown him.

“I still think you’re overreacting,” Jisoo reassures Junhui for the nth time. “It’s his job to ask customers if they need help with something.”

“But the way he said it, I’m sure…”

Except he’s really not sure. Korean isn’t his first language, and while he thinks he’s got a firm enough grasp of the language he’s still told that he occasionally fails to read a situation correctly. Ever since that seed was planted in the back of his head, Junhui is sure he’s messed up at least tenfold in Wonwoo’s presence.

“…okay.” Jisoo sets down his magazine. He still thinks Junhui’s just thinking things through too much, but he humors him for the moment. “How did he say it, then?”

“Well…” Junhui tries to put himself back in the moment, but either he’s too embarrassed to relive the memory or Jisoo makes for a very bad Wonwoo sit-in—possibly both. “Well, he asked me if I needed help with something—”

“Yes, Jun, I got that part, but _how_ did he say it?”

“He…” Junhui briefly closes his eyes. How could he describe it, really? Wonwoo’s face had been so calm, yet his voice had been so… terrifyingly deep. Terrifyingly, in that Junhui likes it more than he wants to admit.

It takes a few more seconds of Jisoo’s expectant gaze before Junhui remembers he’s meant to be giving his friend an answer.

“He… you know. _Said_ it.”

“That… is not helpful in the slightest.” Jisoo rolls his eyes again, almost as if having expected this to happen. “Okay then. How did you reply?”

Junhui swears he feels the red rising in his cheeks.

“I told him… I was just looking at the fish.” Junhui hangs his head from embarrassment – he doesn’t even need to see Jisoo’s mirthful expression. “Look, I had this planned out but he surprised me!”

“Jun… you don’t even own a fish.”

“I _know_ , okay? And it doesn’t help that I happened to be looking at dog food and not fish. But he thinks I’ve got a fish because when I first visited I told him I was looking for a fish bowl for my fish…”

Jisoo nods. He recalls when Junhui had first pleaded for his help. Apparently, when Wonwoo had asked what kind of fish Junhui had and where he was currently keeping his fish, Junhui had replied “In my sink.” Apparently, Junhui thought nothing wrong of the response; Jisoo, on the other hand, is surprised Wonwoo hadn’t called him out on it.

 “Well, look at it this way,” Jisoo begins, and though he tries to keep a straight face Junhui can still see the corners of his lips curled up in amusement. “At least it shows you’ve got his attention? Or that he remembers you. That’s something, right?”

“Yeah, as the guy who’s _Just Looking at The Fish, Thanks_ , like that’s really any good. Jisoo, I swear to God–”

Jisoo shakes his head, clearly showing no signs of letting down from his amusement. “First, don’t swear, you shouldn’t use His name in vain. Second, how am I even supposed to help you, Jun?”

 “I… I don’t know,” Junhui says, shrugging. “You’re the voice of reason here. Help me stop saying stupid things.”

Junhui doesn’t think it’s fair. Were he speaking his native tongue, he could easily let slip a series of eloquent excuses – but because he’s in Korea, and Wonwoo speaks Korean, Junhui is forced to improvise in Korean, and it’s just something he can’t do well yet. He almost wishes he had played the foreigner card from the beginning, so that he could linger in the store without having to explain himself… though, it was already annoying enough that people always assumed he couldn’t speak Korean.

“Here,” Jisoo proposes, “let’s try this? Next time, why don’t you plan not only what you’ll say when things go the way you expect, but also in case he takes you by surprise again. Maybe that way you’ll have a backup plan.”

Junhui shrugs. He can try, sure. But he can already see himself forgetting his backup plan from his surprise. Still, it’s probably the best advice he’s going to get from his friend, so he thanks Jisoo for the tip and leaves him to his magazine. After all, there’s always the chance that it really would work this time around.

* * *

_Fourth time is the charm_ , Junhui decides. He has to make it work this time.

…at least, is what Junhui tells himself his entire walk from the studio. But now that he’s here, now that he’s caught sight of Wonwoo in his soft, baby blue work uniform, Junhui starts to have second thoughts.

He’s got this planned out this time, though. Remind Wonwoo about the party, friend of a friend, blah, blah, blah. But if Wonwoo sneaks up on him again, he’ll ask for a staff recommendation on dog food options to help buy him more time. The more he thinks about it, the more he’s sure this plan can’t go wrong.

“Excuse me,” says a voice from somewhere below him, “are you using that?”

“Huh? …what, this?”

Junhui glances first to the little girl pulling at his shirt, then at the dog toy he just happened to be squeezing between his fingers. A stress ball, of sorts.

“Oh, no, you can have it!” He watches fondly, briefly, as the girl starts squeaking the toy herself, almost as though the toy were meant for her and not dogs. He reassures the girl’s mother that it’s really okay, the girl had not been a bother to him at all, and that there was no need to apologize.

And then, just as the moment passes and the pair of them are walking away:

“Back again?”

Junhui jumps on spot, turns around, and nearly dies when he notices the soft smile Wonwoo is offering him. _He’s smiling for you_ , Junhui’s head reminds him, as if Junhui hadn’t processed it the first time. This time, Junhui is absolutely sure that Wonwoo is onto him. Those words, that smile… there was no way he could be mistaken this time.

“I guess so.” The baby blue looks particularly becoming on Wonwoo, Junhui decides. “You too?”

“I work here,” Wonwoo replies, causing Junhui to laugh nervously. He hadn’t meant it quite like that, and per usual he begins to wonder if Wonwoo thinks he really didn’t know that Wonwoo was an employee.

“Anyway, I was just wondering if there was anything I could help you with today?”

 _Today_ , Junhui echoes in his head. He’s not sure who he’s talking to—maybe himself, or Jisoo. _See, I told you he was catching on! He knows I’ve been coming by regularly!_

In that moment, Junhui doesn’t consider that the extra word could just be what he says to everyone. But more importantly: for once, Junhui is prepared for the question. This time, he won’t embarrass himself. With confidence, he recites his backup plan: “I was wondering if you could recommend a brand of dog food?”

It’s not until Wonwoo responds that he realizes he may have made another mistake.

 “I’d be happy to. Did you want to head over to that aisle? Or were you meaning to look at the dog toys instead?”

Sure enough, they’re one aisle over from the shelf Junhui usually hides behind. He curses himself, but not before Wonwoo’s begun leading them over to the dog food aisle. One day, Junhui swears, he’ll get this right; maybe fifth time would be the charm?

“So, this for Fish?” Wonwoo asks as they walk over, and Junhui nearly chokes on his own spit.

“What?”

“You know,” Wonwoo clarifies, his voice far too casual. The hint of a smile on his lips makes Junhui suspect he might even be enjoying this. “Fish. You said you named your dog Fish?”

“Oh… no, Fish was the dog on that bag of chow, remember?”

“Ah, that’s right.” Rather timely, Wonwoo points to the dog named Fish after snapping his fingers. “I’ve noticed you come by here a lot. Do you actually own any pets?”

“I… do own a pet…” Junhui doesn’t think he sounds very convincing, though—he wouldn’t even believe himself, were he in Wonwoo’s shoes. He only insists to remain faithful to his previous excuses. “…but I might be thinking of getting another one.”

“Sure, all right.” Junhui wonders if Wonwoo really believes him, or if he just doesn’t push Junhui because it’s beyond his boundaries as an employee. Junhui is sure his story has been anything but consistent.

Junhui is hardly listening when Wonwoo begins to explain the differences between various types of dog food. Truthfully, this is the longest conversation he’s had with Wonwoo, and there’s something nice about his voice that pleases Junhui in a certain way. Wonwoo’s side profile is also rather nice to look at, he decides. He wonders if Wonwoo’s head really protrudes a little at the back or if it’s just his hair—

Junhui suddenly feels a slight nudging at his sides. He’s sure he’s already pink by the time he turns and catches Wonwoo’s smile.

“I just asked how all of that sounded,” Wonwoo repeats himself, after Junhui mutters an apology.

“Oh.” Junhui nods stiffly. “Yeah, you’re good—what you said was good, I mean.”

Wonwoo nods. There’s a subtle, yet knowing smile upon his lips that makes Junhui feel exposed, somewhat, like Wonwoo is reading right through him.

“Was that informative? Is there anything else I could help you with?”

Junhui nods, still flustered. “I’m good, thank you. And you?”

“Me?” Wonwoo raises a brow, and Junhui heart races from mild panic. His last few words had been so systematic, out of politeness, that he hadn’t even thought of what it meant to return the question. “Well, if you’re asking, it might be helpful if—”

“No, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t—” Junhui begins, but Wonwoo ignores the interjection and finishes his sentence.

“—if I had your name?”

Junhui stops midsentence, processes Wonwoo’s request, then finds himself laughing. Of all the times Wonwoo had acted against his expectations so far… this has certainly taken the cake.

“Junhui,” he says at last. He notices that Wonwoo’s smiling wider, now. “Or Jun is fine.”

“Okay, Jun.”

Junhui thinks he might be reading the situation wrong, but he almost suspects that Wonwoo is relieved? And that maybe he’s glad to have Junhui’s name? And maybe that—

“I don’t work tomorrow,” Wonwoo says, the words rousing Junhui from his thoughts; “but if the next day you find yourself needing to shop for Fish again… I’ll be here.”

It takes a moment for Junhui to take in what Wonwoo’s saying to him, let alone why he’s bothering to tell him this. He thinks maybe, just maybe, Wonwoo was asking him to visit him again soon. Panicked over the confirmation that Wonwoo really was onto him now, Junhui does the only thing he can think to do in that moment.

* * *

Over dinner later that evening, Jisoo clicks his tongue at Junhui and shakes his head.

“I can’t believe you ran away,” Jisoo chastises his friend later that evening. Junhui has just finished catching up Jisoo with the latest Wonwoo news, and Jisoo would have been impressed had it not been for this one detail.

“I didn’t know what to say!” Junhui says defensively. To his credit, Junhui is proud of himself for not totally making a fool of himself this time. Even the one mistake he made had been in his favor.

“Honestly, anything would’ve been better than hightailing it out of there.”

Junhui makes a face. He’d invited Jisoo to dinner to ask his advice, not to be reprimanded.

“Well, it’s not terrible news. The good thing is that Wonwoo works there, so you don’t have to convince him you had good intentions. All you have to do is just show up and you can make ends meet.”

“Okay, but what do I say?” Even without Jisoo’s advice, he had planned to go to the store anyway. Though he’s only recently started passing by on his way home, it already feels routine for him.

“Well let’s think about this,” Jisoo begins, settling into his seat like he’s about to discuss something serious. “Before today you thought Wonwoo kept dropping hints about recognizing you, and today he said it explicitly… and even took advantage of you misspeaking to get your name?”

Junhui nods without saying anything.

“Employees asking customers for their name is not typical… so he was probably asking for his personal gain.” Jisoo pauses, almost dramatically. “Honestly, man? I think he likes you.”

“Shut up,” Junhui snaps. It’s something he wants to believe, but doesn’t want to get his hopes up. “He’s just… doing what staff people are supposed to do.”

“Oh, so _now_ you’re willing to accept that,” Jisoo says, slightly exasperated. “But, no, Jun, I think he’s gotta be interested in you. I mean, he asked for your name and told you to come see him again. If that’s not a sign I don’t know what is.”

Junhui sighs. Truthfully, if he lets himself think rationally about it, he’d have come to the same conclusion. He was already visiting Wonwoo at work every day, and now Wonwoo had basically given him permission to keep doing it. But Junhui is also worried that maybe he’s just read the situation wrong. Jisoo wasn’t there, after all, there was no way he could know for sure.

“Okay,” Junhui echoes, “I like him, he likes me, I ran away, but there’s still hope? That pretty much what you think?”

“Basically,” Jisoo replies. “You can apologize if you want, but I don’t even think you would need to. Just show up again and see what happens.”

“Should I plan for the worst so I don’t make a fool of myself?”

“Nah, you’ll be fine. It’s not like that’s really worked for you before, anyway.”

Truthfully, Junhui is hesitant. He’s never entered that store without a plan before. When it comes to Wonwoo, he’s always wanted to put his best foot forward, despite how the events have usually played out. Even last time, Josh had told him to plan for the unexpected. But maybe this time, an encounter with Wonwoo would end favorably.

 _Fifth time’s the charm_ , he assures himself.

* * *

When Junhui walks into the pet store two days later, he finds Wonwoo toward the aquariums at the back. At first he watches Wonwoo from afar—part of it is to rethink his plan, but part of it is also just to admire that baby blue uniform—but after a moment Wonwoo catches sight of him. Though Junhui is initially worried for his reaction, considering his previous exit, Wonwoo simply nods his head and walks over without any grudges or reservations.

“You’re back.”

Junhui might be overthinking things again, but he thinks Wonwoo sounds happy to see him. It makes him less nervous.

“I thought I might have scared you away.”

“Yeah… as in yeah, I’m back, not yeah, you scared me away.”

“I figured.” Junhui feels weird being here without a plan, even though he’s been in many other situations without one. At the same time, it feels nice to not have to justify his presence, now that Wonwoo expects him.

Wonwoo has two more hours left on his shift, as it turns out. Apparently, Junhui has nothing better to do with his evening than to follow Wonwoo around the store. Junhui learns more about Wonwoo through idle banter—Wonwoo is pre-med but is thinking of applying to vet school instead, is Vice President to the university’s Chemistry Club, spends Christmas alone because the rest of his family always travels abroad on Christmas and New Year’s Day, finds that a dinner and movie is his ideal date…

“What about you?” Wonwoo asks without premise.

“M-Me?” Junhui stutters while pointing to himself. Part of him can’t believe what Wonwoo has really just asked him; the other part remembers his dinner and Jisoo and kind of does believe it.

“Yeah, you. What’s your ideal date?” Wonwoo pauses for a second—just long enough for Junhui to melt from how Wonwoo is smiling at him. “Hey, listen—and promise me you won’t run away if I ask you this—but I was wondering if you’d want to get dinner sometime?”

Junhui thinks his heart might stop.

“Dinner?” he echoes. “Like… dinner and movie, dinner?”

Wonwoo nods slowly in confirmation. “Or well, we don’t have to do the movie if you don’t have the time or want to. But in the sense that I would like to take you on a date sometime… that kind of dinner, yeah. I’d like to get to know you better, but always meeting when I’m at work gets lame pretty quickly, you know?”

Junhui doesn’t really think he knows. Shock has paralyzed his ability for rational thought. Somehow, this is real life—Jeon Wonwoo has really asked him on a date. It’s everything he’s ever wanted, at least over the past week or so, yet for some reason he can’t bring himself to say yes, not without questioning it….

“You could have picked any person to walk in this store… plenty of other fish in the sea.” Junhui cringes at how he can hear Joshua’s voice as he says it. “Why me?”

“Well,” Wonwoo replies, and Junhui finds that the smile Wonwoo offers him in that moment is the prettiest smile he’s ever seen; “this particular fish is on a dog food diet—”

“ _Shut up_ ,” Junhui starts, but Wonwoo shakes his head and presses on.

“—and gives dog toys to little girls and claims to have pets he doesn’t have just so he can spend time with me. I think it’s endearing.” Wonwoo pauses, gives Junhui a moment to die on the spot. “Hey, did you think I didn’t notice?”

“I, um.” Junhui shrugs, feels his face heat up. “I thought that maybe I was the only one watching you.”

“Yet, you were surprised every time I approached you. Are you sure _you_ were watching _me_?” Junhui’s heart is still beating quickly, though he’s less anxious. It feels more real now.

“Anyway,” Junhui continues, ignoring Wonwoo’s teasing, “you were talking about dinners and dates? I… I might be interested.”

“Might?” Wonwoo clarifies, and Junhui decidedly hates the smug smile on his lips as he asks.

“Okay, I am interested, whatever.” For some reason, his response only causes Wonwoo to grin all the wider. “So what happens now, then?”

Wonwoo shrugs. “Well, we’d go on a date. That’s what would happen next. We could even go tonight, if you wanted—I get off in thirty minutes.”

Junhui opens his mouth, prepares to tell Wonwoo that maybe tonight is too soon because he’s not dressed for the occasion, doesn’t know what they’ll talk about, or how he wants the night to end—but then he remembers Jisoo’s words, reminds himself that he has yet to end time spent with Wonwoo on a positive note, wonders whether taking life as it happens might really be the best way to live.

“Sure,” Junhui admits at last. He sighs in relief, as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. “I’d like that.”

* * *

Two weeks later, Junhui introduces Wonwoo to Jisoo, who looks up from the magazine he’s reading, briefly registers their entwined fingers, then decides he’s not all that surprised.

“Jisoo!”

“What?” Jisoo glances up again, locking eyes with a flustered Junhui. “I don’t know what you want me to say. It doesn’t seem like you need my help anymore?”

“Be happy for me or something!”

Jisoo rolls his eyes. “Okay, okay. You guys look cute together. Congrats, Jun. Wonwoo’s quite the catch and I’m sure he’ll make you happy.”

“Actually,” Wonwoo interjects, “Jun, here, is the greatest catch of all.” He’s wearing an expression that, in the past few weeks, Junhui has come to be fearful of, the telltale sign that he's about to be teased. “Did you know that we recently got Jun a fish, and he decided to name it Dog?”

“Wait, that’s not—” Junhui protests, but it’s too late. Wonwoo’s successfully gotten his best friend’s attention. _I just can’t seem to ever win_ , Junhui tells himself, but as he's listening to Wonwoo recount their latest trip to the pet store, Junhui decides it's not so bad.

At least he’s won Wonwoo.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had so many ideas for this story, but not enough time... I hope the final product was still enjoyable!


End file.
